Headlining the first night of The Bamboozle in East Rutherford, NJ, Paramore delivered a tight, epic set that showed off just how far they’ve come in just a few years. I first caught Paramore on Warped Tour 2008, when the band had already gained renown for an explosive live set. At The Bamboozle, the band’s performance showcased their characteristic energy honed into a set with real stage chops, with frontwoman Hayley Williams at the center of attention.
While I tore my lenses away from Williams whenever I could, the singer is really the heart of the band and a magnet for music photographers, myself not immune.
Photographer’s Notes:
Photographing Paramore is always a thrill. I’ve had the opportunity to photograph these guys on three separate occasions, and every time it’s a challenge and a whole lot of fun. Hayley’s explosive movements on stage are one thing that keep all music photographers on their toes.
Paramore photographed backstage at Warped Tour 2008
For Paramore’s set, I started out camped out stage left, switching to stage right for the third song. If I had this show to do over, I think I would have tried stage left first, but overall I don’t regret my decisions – the very best lighting came during the third song, and where I ended up on song three was the perfect spot to photograph Hayley.
I photographed Paramore with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for the most part, with just a little help from the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. For this set, shooting with two camera bodies was a boon.
End Notes:
Want more Paramore photos? Check out these sets:
Paramore Opening For No Doubt 2009 @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Photos: Paramore’s Headlining Tour 2009 @ The Pageant
Comments & Feedback? Let ‘em rip.
Questions or comments? Leave a comment below, and let me know what you thought of this post.
Spread The Love
Like these images? Order prints by clicking through from the slideshow below.
And, you can share this slideshow by grabbing the embed code in the lower right of the player. It’s better than stealing them.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with bamboozle, festival, hayley williams, Jeremy Davis, Josh Farro, live music, music photography, paramore, performance, Taylor York, Zac Farro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Welcome to ishootshows.com, your source for music photography featuring daily concert coverage, portrait features, and photo advice from professional music photographer Todd Owyoung.
Support this site by purchasing your photo equipment through my affiliate links to B&H Photo Video or Amazon.com
Learn more about how you can support the features of ishootshows.com.
Shooting Caitlin Rose and band before the Old 97s was a fantastic warm up, and a nice way to dust of…
Here’s a little preview from a recent shoot with my friends Option Control toward the end of l…
Today Adobe has released the beta version of Lightroom4, the successor to their popular image manage…
You’ve seen it before – weird, colored blobs in your photographs radiating outward from some…
About that time when I said about the megapixel war being over with the release of the Nikon D4 and …
whoa, the last shot is the bad ass one!
loved the set todd!
Thanks, Gilang! Glad to hear you like this set. That last one was when Hayley was really whipping the crowd up during the first or second song. She’s a pro.
Looks like a lot of fun. Great work Todd.
Hey Craig,
Nice to hear from you here, thanks for the comment. Paramore are always a blast.
More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
RT @toddowyoung More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
Always great RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
Always great RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
RT: @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
Photos of #Paramore at The Bamboozle by @Toddowyoung – http://ishootshows.com/2010/05/24/photos-paramore-the-bamboozle/
Hair tossing photos of Paramore at Bamboozle (by @toddowyoung) – http://ishootshows.com/2010/05/24/photos-paramore-the-bamboozle/
RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
Stunning shots as always Todd. Was lucky enough to photograph Paramore in Brighton, UK in December and was well worth the 4 hour return journey (4 trains and snow). Hoping to get the chance again in November… now i know what i need to aim for though, top work
Hey Benji,
Wow, 4 hours, snow, and 4 trains? That is dedication. Hope you do get to photograph them on their UK tour later this year. Thanks for the comment.
Great Set Todd, .. there’s some impressive shots in there ;)
Hey Tom, thanks! I appreciate the feedback.
RT @toddowyoung: More hair whips than you can shake a stick at – Photos: Paramore headlining The #Bamboozle. http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
You really nailed this set Todd, ace! Paramore are definitely a photographer’s dream. It’s good to see you follow them still.
Thanks, Ed! This was a great shoot, though I have to say that their set opening for No Doubt had some amazing lights, too.
As long as Paramore is still rocking, I’ll photograph them anywhere, anytime.
Hey Todd,
I’m not surprised by this set. Paramore are an awesome band to shoot for what I’ve seen, and you’ve proven before that you can really great action shots of their shows.
Those last two shots are the perfect closure in a great set! However, before I saw the post, I was thinking “we’re gonna see some wide-angle actions”, but you didn’t really use that dream baby. Any particular reason why you went for close-ups and not so much for some wider shots?
They are definitely in my “top-3 bands I’d like to shoot”.
Congrats for another amazing work.
Cheers,
Daniel
Hey Daniel,
Great question here with regard to wide-angles. Overall, I go for the greatest impact in the images I make. With wide-angle photography – or ultra-wide with the Nikon 14-24mmm f/2.8 – that means being in very close to best utilize the special look those lenses give. Due to the shooting situation for Paramore, getting in very close with the wide simply wasn’t a viable option during most of the first three.
I went for close-ups primarily with Hayley for a few reasons:
1) Fans love Hayley
2) My takeaway was that the stage treatment was largely character lighting, rather than atmospheric. This was the opposite of how it played out for Weezer the following night.
Thanks for the comment, Daniel.
Hey Todd,
I completely understand your approach, though I must confess I’d love to have seen a few wider angle shots, just to show the overall atmosphere on stage.
Still, it’s a stellar set, as usual, and you can really bring out the best in Paramore’s stage power.
Cheers,
Daniel
Hey Daniel,
Believe me, I would have loved to rock the ultra-wide. Maybe next time. I do have some wider shots, they’re just not my favorite from the set. Will have a look and update as necessary.
Hey Todd,
I’m sure you chose the best shots available. You’ll have more opportunities to shoot them, no doubt, and if you have the chance, I bet you’ll rock those wide angle shots.
And, the set is still impeccable … as usual ;)
My initial question came more because of my own doubts. I always find myself in that spot where I think “I should have made a wider composition” or “Should I close in or make it more spaced”, so I wanted to get some feedback on how you approach this. And I was more than happy with your answer. Thanks a lot, mate.
Cheers,
Daniel
Why Is Haley Williams So hot? Great job by Todd Owyoung, one of my favorite music photographers http://bit.ly/aCKAok
Todd you have done a fantastic job once again. If I had only 3 fingers, I could count the only photographers who inspire me on them, rest assured your one of them.
Image 9 (if you count down from the title image) is just awesome. Huge flare ups with a whip on top. Excellent.
I look forward to the Weezer ones :)
Hey Jim,
Thanks very much for the kind words and feedback, I appreciate it. That ninth shot was made right at the start of the set, if I recall, when Hayley was warming up with a few hair whips.
Weezer is coming up – I still have to post all of the full sets from the second day of Bamboozle.
Thanks again.
Amazing pictures! I commented on your Hanson set as well as they are my favorite band, Paramore are my 2nd :) I was at this show and I agree, it was TIGHT. Thanks for the amazing photos.
RT @toddowyoung Photos: Paramore performing at The Bamboozle on May 1, 2010. | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/ck7lDA
You really capture what Paramore is about, Todd! Great, great job! But i specifically love this one [link]
Hey Roxanne, thanks for the comment. That one image was a lucky catch – lighting just happened to fall on Hayley’s face, I think a lot of the other shots I have around then are all orange or red.
Estas fotos de @Paramore están brutales http://bit.ly/9ZBPQp vale la pena chequear el trabajo de este gran fotógrafo
RT @OscarRibasT: Estas fotos de @Paramore están brutales http://bit.ly/9ZBPQp vale la pena chequear el trabajo de este gran fotógrafo
@acaDada Definitivamente eres EMO Estas fotos de @Paramore están brutales http://bit.ly/9ZBPQp
holy hairlight batman!
The 9th shot in the list oozes energy man!
@Henchwhip – http://ishootshows.com/2010/05/24/photos-paramore-the-bamboozle/ – and this one :P